Author(s): Piers Steel

Business

Why do kitchens need to be cleaned the night before the final exams? Why does the arrival of a new email suddenly seem more important than a crucial sales pitch? And why does a healthy diet always start tomorrow? Writing with a combination of humour, humanity and solid scientific research, Piers Steel explains why we procrastinate - why we knowingly and willingly put off a course of action despite recognising we'll be worse off for it. What's more, his study shows that despite procrastination making us poorer, fatter and unhappier, we're putting things off like never before - with new distractions such as Facebook and Twitter now in our lives, procrastination is on the rise.